The present invention relates to an auxiliary apparatus for flotation, propulsion and steering for wheeled or tracked vehicles such as the M113 and the like.
A multipurpose vehicle, often applied for combat uses and essentially for troop transportation, has a watertight hull-like structure that makes it suitable for wading across watercourses by resting on the underlying pebbly bed and also gives it limited amphibious capabilities, which also make it suitable to cross small bodies of water and/or move on swampy terrain but always in calm and shallow water.
In order to be able to use this vehicle also in civil protection missions, for which the vehicle must be able to float and be highly maneuverable and have a high carrying capacity both in turbulent water, such as the water of a flood and overflow of a river, and on rough terrain, an amphibian vehicle has already been developed and is known; such vehicle is obtained by adding fore and aft flotation elements that are applied permanently to the chassis with watertight welds.
Although the modifications applied to the original vehicle make such amphibious vehicle particularly suitable for use in emergency conditions of the type described above, these modifications entail irreversible changes to the vehicle that increase its dimensions considerably, making the modified vehicle unsuitable for use for interventions in confined spaces or in which high maneuverability is otherwise required.
The aim of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary apparatus for flotation, propulsion and steering for wheeled or tracked vehicles that can be fitted/removed in the short times imposed by the occurrence of calamities.
Within this aim, an object of the invention is to fully utilize the volumes occupied by such apparatus by using at least part of it to obtain compartments suitable to supply the propulsion and steering means as well as additional loading volumes.
Another object of the invention is to provide such apparatus so that it has a low cost and is simple to manufacture.
This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by the auxiliary apparatus for flotation, propulsion and steering for wheeled or tracked vehicles such as the M113 and the like having the characteristics given in claim 1, whereas the dependent claims define other advantageous characteristics.